The Beckhams are the latest to join the new breed of celebs who’re opting for social media to share baby pics instead of selling them to glossies

Everyone thought that the first pictures of soccer star David Beckham and wife Victoria’s newborn daughter, Harper Seven, will appear in some coveted magazine, which would have shelled out millions for the ‘exclusive’, as has been the norm in the charm circles. The Beckhams, however, took everyone by surprise — David posted a picture of Victoria with the baby on Facebook, while Victoria tweeted a picture of Harper with hubby on Sunday. And, they’re not the only ones who’ve heralded the new trend of sharing the first pics of their newborns on social media.

Recently, Friends star David Schwimmer tweeted a picture of himself with wife Zoe and newborn daughter Cleo, actor Kendra Wilkinson tweeted a picture of her baby boy and singer Mariah Carey tweeted a picture of her baby daughter's hand.

Bollywood, too, isn’t keeping its babies under wraps anymore. In April, actor Ranvir Shorey tweeted a picture of him with his month-old son Haroon. In June, actor Ameesha Patel tweeted a picture of actor Sanjay Dutt's eight-month-old daughter Iqra.

“This trend shows two things. One is end of superstition. Now, celebs no longer go by old beliefs. Secondly, it shows the end of privacy,” says filmmaker Pritish Nandy. Actor Mandira Bedi, whose husband filmmaker Raj Kaushal had tweeted a picture of their son Vir the day he was born, says, “It didn't irk me since its not anything I want to hide.” Filmmaker Mahesh Bhatt says, “The world has changed, so I can understand that people must be asking them to share the baby pics.”

Magazine editors also agree that social networking websites offer a better platform. “Celebrities have now realised that sites like Twitter offer them a personal way to reach out,” says Ruchika Mehta, editor, Hello magazine India. Shashi Sunny, deputy editor of People magazine India, however, says, “It's a personal choice. There are some who'll still sell pictures to magazines and then there are those won’t.” HTC

Costliest celeb baby picsActors Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie sold the pictures of their twins Knox and Vivienne to People magazine in the US and Hello magazine in the UK for a reported $14mn (approx R62cr). The first pictures of their daughter Shiloh went for $4.1mn (approx R18cr). They reportedly donated the money to charity. Singer Jennifer Lopez and Marc Anthony, who recently announced their split, sold pics of their twins Max and Emme for $6mn (approxR26 cr) to People.